#first peoples buffalo jump

[wavernot4love]

time 4 yet another wavernot4love gig recap, gloomtown rochester edition (aka my seventh time seeing idkhow, fourth in rochester, & third at the montage music hall, the latter two a feat i cannot say for many bands) (note this was typed primarily at three am last night so once again there is probably incoherent rambling):

- gonna start this off with this clip of sunnyside since 1. i think that is becoming my favorite song off gloom division and 2. the ending gives me a chuckle

- boring live finally came back 2 me after four long years!!!!

- (dallon neurodivergency mention when talking about the themes of gloom division) (crowd erupts in cheers)

- return of the mormon tabernacle choir comparison arrived post- a letter, with dallon saying the next song (what love) wasn't something they tell you about in church, in typical cheeky fashion

- somewhat related, bro was wearing a gold sparkly grandma cardigan and randomly ripped it off and threw it CLEAN through the doorway of the like, green room at montage mid- what love. speaking of he said people at the vip earlier apparently planned his outfit

- dallon straight up grabbed a kid by the hand mid song and yanked them out of the crowd & onstage so they could do a lil jig together? good for them!!!

- going to leave the dallon quote "this isn't a frat house!" here w/o context

- someone handed him a giant american flag with a picture of him printed on it. god bless america

- ALL OF THE BRACELETS/KEYCHAINS WENT? after the show maybe 40 of us camped outside in case dallon came out and at one point someone who had reached out about them came over & so did a BUNCH of other folks who realized there were, in fact, bracelets. my cousin referred to it as the "meet & greet" since there were barricades set up along the sidewalk which gave me a bit of a laugh. guess i'm making more for buffalo yippee!!!! possibly may make stickers too later if i have time. i'll probably post em, but otherwise look for the person w curly hair & a baggy black thought reform hoodie w bracelets on a carabiner!

- so while we were waiting my cousin and i were sat RIGHT next to the main entrance of montage, right? basically the start of a sort of line of people sat down going down the sidewalk.

anyways, at one point only maybe 45 minutes after the show, out of said main entrance strolls dallon. collective whiplash moment as bro took one look, stopped dead in his tracks, we all collectively looked at each other like

and dallon (who i think was truly surprised so many of us were out waiting in the cold) goes, lightheartedly but genuinely, "what are you guys doing all out here? it's freezing outside!"

and then proceeds to kinda frolick around for a couple minutes laughing w people or whatever. we didn't really approach him since i think he was a bit overwhelmed but it was still just a funny moment and we'll see what happens in buffalo! maybe less people will hang after so it'll be less intimidating for him.

- i do feel the need to mention i heard this one kid we were talking to bring up video games to him & dallon said he's not a huge video games person he just plays the last of us & spiderman really which is funny to me but fitting

- i did bring my point & shoot so once i edit those maybe i'll post some!

anyways, stoked on tomorrow's show yay!!!

[1863-project]

(video and tweet source)

THE HANSHIN TIGERS HAVE BROKEN THE CURSE OF THE COLONEL!

For the people who don't know, in 1985, the Hanshin Tigers won their first (and at the time, only) Japan Series victory. Traditionally, they've been hard luck losers, and they're often compared to the Red Sox in the sense of their being overshadowed by the Yomiuri Giants, who, like the Yankees, have won more championships than any other team in their league.

When they won, fans resembling the players on the team were jumping into the Dotonbori Canal in Osaka - the fans would yell out a player's name, and a fan who looked like them would jump in. The problem was when they got to Randy Bass, who none of the Japanese fans looked like. They needed to find something resembling him and selected a statue of Colonel Sanders, who was white and had a beard like Bass, and threw it into the canal.

Colonel Sanders sank underwater, and the Hanshin Tigers did...horribly after that, usually coming in last in the league or close to it, to the point where the team was considered cursed by his presence in the canal. The team made the Japan Series a few times after that in the 2000s and once in the 2010s, but lost each time.

In 2009, the Colonel was located and recovered from the Dotonbori Canal, save for his left hand and his glasses. He's now at a location near Koshien Stadium, where the Tigers play their home games (and where the famed national high school baseball championships are played), and can be viewed there to this day.

Fans were, however, not convinced that they had earned the Colonel's forgiveness, since his hand and glasses were missing. In the image above, he's been given some replacement glasses, but he still lacks a left hand.

This year, Hanshin beat the Orix Buffaloes, a team that plays roughly 20 minutes away by train in Nishinomiya, 4-3 in a seven-game series. The curse is thus considered broken...so the fans did what they do best, and threw a fan dressed like Colonel Sanders into the Dotonbori Canal.

For years, this has been my favorite baseball story, and I'm so happy that I was alive to see it seen all the way through. Congratulations, Hanshin fans!

[apoemaday]

To Be of Use

by Marge Piercy

The people I love best jump into work head first without dallying in the shadows and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight. They seem to become natives of that element, the black sleek heads of seals bouncing like half-submerged balls. I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart, who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience, who strain in the mud and muck to move things forward, who do what has to be done, again and again. I want to be with people who submerge in the task, who go into the fields to harvest and work in a row and pass the bags along, who are not parlor generals and field deserters but move in a common rhythm when the food must come in or the fire be put out. The work of the world is common as mud. Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust. But the thing worth doing well done has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident. Greek amphoras for wine or oil, Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums but you know they were made to be used. The pitcher cries for water to carry and a person for work that is real.

[letsgetrowdy43]

In a sea of people—

Quinn Hughes x reader

Request: Can we get Quinn’s gf gets hurt ( bruised cheek, bloody nose, or getting pushed while watching a Canuck’s game by a crazy fan from the opposing team) resulting in Canuck’s fan knowing who she is… trying to defend her and it results in a brawl. And Quinn gets super worried trying to get to you. (I changed it a little bit, sorry for that)

!! In this we are going to pretend Canucks in the future are Playoff contenders (consider this me manifesting) !!

Canucks fans were pretty mild when it came to rowdy crowds but the moment the boys began their playoff push it was as if a switch was flipped. This was the game that decided their fate if they stopped Buffalo from receiving a single point in regulation then they would clinch a wild-card position, making their first playoff appearance since the bubble.

Quinn's long-term girlfriend sat in the crowd alongside her best friend, Anna, opting out of a reserved box, wanting to get the full experience, a few rows away from the glass.

It had all been calm, the crowd on the edge of their seats as the boys on the ice fought for their lives, the score was 1-0 in favour of the Canucks, and the crowd was anxiously waiting. There were five minutes remaining in regulation, and you could see the Sabre's beginning to grow agitated, as well as the Canucks starting to grow restless at the thought that they could possibly be in the playoffs, as long at they just held down the fort for just five more minutes.

One of Buffalo's power forwards took a slap shot right at Demko, resulting in Quinn throwing his entire body in front of the net and taking the shot right in the ribs causing the entire crowd to hop up and cheer.

Y/n on the other hand stood up hand over her mouth, "Did he get up, I can't see him?" she said slightly panicked unable to see him over the giant of a man standing in front of her, blocking the view of her possibly injured boyfriend. Anna who sat next to her grinned at the panic in her best friend's voice, "he's fine Y/n, he's already up and they're doing a faceoff," she mused, nudging the relived girl in the ribs as everyone around them began to sit back in their seats.

A minute was left on the clock and Demmer was on shut-out watch, Y/n had practically bitten all of her nails off as she watched the timer count down to ten seconds, the Canucks still in possession of the puck, passing it back and forth between each other and they waited out the buzzer. Finally, the final buzzer sounded, meaning that the boys had done it, they were in the playoffs.

Y/n and Anna jumped to their feet, holding each other and jumping as they squealed. "Oh my god, you know what this means?" Anna asked as she grinned. "What?" "You get one of those wag jacket thingys," Y/n's jaw dropped as her friend grinned.

That's when all hell broke loose, the crowd was up and in a frenzy, celebrating and screaming as the team made a circle on the ice to give a thank-you speech to the fans. Y/n had been trying to listen as her boyfriend took the mic and skated to middle ice to give the end-of-season speech.

The people surrounding the girls were very much hammered and very much rowdy, the guy next to Anna rammed right into her and knocked the much smaller girls onto the ground. The man behind them started arguing with the guy who pushed them over, "Watch what you're doing!" he yelled out catching the guy's attention, and the two of them got into a verbal fight that soon turned a little physical.

The two girls laughed as they stood up off the ground, "that's gonna leave a bruise," Anna joked as she ran over the tender spot on her hip, "oh fuck, Y/n," she said pulling her friend up off the floor to examine the cut that spread across her cheek, and a little too close to her eye. "I caught the arm of the chair with my eye," she said teary-eyed as she tried to blink away the tears, laughing at how stupid they both must've looked.

Her friend tried to get out of the aisle to get the cut cleaned up but they were stuck surrounded by drunk fans either cheering or fighting in the crowd.

Quinn was in the midst of his speech when he saw an uproar in the section where Y/n had been sitting, his face breaking out into a look of confusion and concern as he turned to the bench full of officials to get the attention of the staff, trying to direct it to the mob-like crowd that was unfolding. The words of his practised speech stopped as he got distracted, looking for his girlfriend in the crowd, "Is someone not dealing with that?" he asked the bench into the mic to get his point across. He received a stern look as he looked back at the rest of the crowd, "anyways, thank you for an amazing season full of support, It's an honour to play for you guys, and we will continue that honour into the playoff, thank you!" he smiled as he and the others skated towards the bench.

His smile fell as he was pulled aside by one of the officials, "Do you realize what you just did there?" "Tried to create a safe environment," he feigned innocence with a shrug as he walked to the dressing room in search of his phone to call his girlfriend.

The two girls sat calmly in the midst of the commotion, laughing as they watched Quinn on the jumbotron, a worried look on his face during the remainder of his speech. Security showed up the second Quinn pointed out what was taking place. And within the next following minutes, Y/n's phone was ringing in her pocket, a smile on her face.

"Are you okay?" his voice filled with concern. "I'm ecstatic, you're going to the playoffs baby!" she mused as the weight lifted off of his shoulders at the sound of her voice. He laughed at the use of the nickname, "I just gotta shower and do media I'll be out in like twenty minutes, Sound good?" "All good, love you, bye," she grinned at her friend as she walked to the bathroom.

She cleaned up the gash across her cheek and then bid her friend goodbye as she waited for Quinn to get out of doing media.

He left the changing rooms with a big grin on his face, he had finally done it, and after years of trying to help the team get to the playoffs all of the hard work had finally paid off. He whisked her up into a hug when she was talking to another wife on the team, unsuspecting as she laughed at the surprise contact, "Sorry, I'm stealing her for a second," he said as he pulled her away to have her all to himself.

She laughed as he spun her around and kissed her quickly, PDA wasn't a normal thing for Quinn but the high from adrenaline had him loving all over her. His thumb ran over her cheek as he kissed her again and again, a hiss leaving her mouth as he brushed over the cut. Quinn pulled away with furrowed brows, finally seeing the gash across her face, "I thought you said you were fine?" he inspected her face. "I'm fine, I promise!"

"What happened?" he said taking her by the hand and pulling her through the crowd of people to find one of the on-duty medics. She rolled her eyes at his dramatic antics, "Someone pushed Anna into me and I fell into the arm of the chair, I'm not concussed, it's not that big of a deal!" He handed her over to the care of one of the team medics who patched her up nicely, disinfecting the cut and putting a bandage on it for safe measures.

"All better?" he grinned. "I was fine before," she shrugged as he placed a kiss on the side of her head, a fake scowl on her face. "I get worried when shit like that happens, just be happy I didn't figure out a way to jump the glass to save you," he grinned.

"Can we please stop talking about it," she stopped in her tracks to look at him with a pleading look. "Let's talk about playoffs," she grinned, "Or the celebration I'm gonna give you when we get home," she teased making his face go red, taking her by the hand and pulling her in the direction of the exit.

-

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I hate this :) but it'll do

[bomberqueen17]

sketchy grocery store shit: a very middle-aged rant

Man so. I went to college in Rochester and so I did my first I'm An Adult Shopping For My Own Groceries shopping in a Wegmans. I got used to the way the store works, how things were laid out. And of course, i got a Shopper's Club card.

I still have it somewhere, use it occasionally, but I had to get another one when I misplaced it because they asked what phone number it was tied to and like, man, it was a Rochester number with a 716 area code, that's how long ago it was. (It's 585 there now.)

I got conditioned to try the Wegmans brand generic for whatever brand name thing I was buying, because it was often the same, and was cheaper. (Though, RIP to the old Wegmans box mac n cheese, they enshittified that in 1999 once we were all good and hooked and we all mourned and switched to Annie's and never looked back. Maybe it's better now but I don't rely on that stuff the way I used to.) I got conditioned to always swipe the card because sure they were collecting data on you but in a $70 trip I'd save five bucks easy, it wasn't nothing! And I also learned to look for their Family Packs, which were larger containers of the same item for less per unit-- if it was something not that perishable, or something you could get through, it was worth spending a little more now to stretch it later!

Anyway. I went to Wegmans yesterday, I live in Buffalo now and we have them here too, and we have a rotation of grocery stores we patronize but when I do the shopping, I'm still the most used to Wegmans, I know where stuff is, and I knew some of the stuff I wanted, they'd be the ones to have. (The organic co-op doesn't carry Doritos and sometimes in the doldrums of winter a bitch needs some of that poison, y'know?)

I'd noticed before that the Shoppers Club isn't a savings thing anymore. I didn't have my own card for one visit and the cashier went to great lengths to get me a swipe from a manager, and at the end I'd spent $200 and saved.... fifty cents.

This time around I'd taken advantage of a buy one get one deal to get a second box of something I didn't really need a second box of, only to discover it was buy one get a dollar off the second, so I saved a whole dollar and actually spent three I hadn't needed to. Well, whatever. It's not perishable and I'll eventually go through it.

But the other thing I noticed was the wild price swings by different packaging of the same item. I should've taken pictures. But like-- ok, raw baby spinach. I fucking love spinach. They had a smaller bag and then next to it they had a Family Pack. I hesitated-- it is hard to use up leafy greens but I fucking love spinach and I could make the effort-- and then I looked. I can't do math but fortunately they are required by law to have the price per unit breakdown on every price sticker. Because the small bag of spinach was $1.99, and was $3.99/lb. (A pound of spinach is a lot.) The Family Pack next to it? It was $3.99, which seemed like a good price jump. But on the per-item breakdown, it came out to $7.99/lb. It didn't actually have any more spinach in it. It was just a different-shaped bag and cost more. For no reason. And there was a whole shelf of the larger bags, and only a small display of the smaller ones. They're just expecting people, conditioned like I am, to say "ah i can use more spinach i'll take the savings" and buy the more expensive bag. But I did just do the math (which is difficult for me so you know I'm mad about this) and that is literally the exact same amount of spinach for twice the price.

Similar for stew beef but they went too far with it, it wasn't even plausible. There was a large pack for forty-nine dollars and I didn't even look to see how much was in it because i do not have forty-nine dollars for stew beef, I found a one-pound bag for $8.99. But I had this same issue before, and was more persistent last time I went: you can buy a three-pound chuck roast for $7.99/lb, which is a chunk of change but it's a lot of meat, and cut it into stew beef yourself and save some money that way, but I just knew I did not have it in me this week to cut up yet another chuck roast when I got home. (Full disclosure: i wasn't even looking at the grass-fed organic shit this was just regular USDA whatever Meets Regulations And Is Legal To Sell shit.)

Stew beef is supposed to be the trimmings and it is supposed to be cheap. But they have realized people prefer it, more recipes call for it because it was historically cheaper, and so they have marked it up and it is more expensive than the whole roast. Because most cooks reading a recipe are not going to necessarily know why it calls for stew beef and that they could substitute a superior cut if the price wasn't good.

I am aware that buying the pre-marinated individual convenience cuts is historically where they make their profit and I don't begrudge them that; if that's what I was shopping for I would not be that mad about paying $7 for three cents worth of marinade ingredients, because it is much easier to cook something like that with the attached recipe and because a lot of the markup is the labor costs in putting all that shit together. I don't begrudge them that at all and when I'm paying for it I'm well aware that I am.

But I really do resent how much of the price-gouging is happening by abusing the patterns of behavior they conditioned us into. I learned, twenty years ago, to look for the deals and look for the bulk packs, and now I am being punished for having learned that. I don't mind paying a premium for something I know is a convenience fee, but being charged extra for my formerly-thrifty shopping habits really stings. I shouldn't have to exercise constant vigilance in the fucking grocery store, it's stressful enough to be the only masked person in there and now you have to compete with the huge carts they use for the online ordering peeps that take up a lot of the aisle.

Maybe it's easier to do the price comparisons on the website?

Oh and there are a number of products they now only carry the Wegmans generic for. (You can't get Snyder pretzel bites anymore, and the Wegmans version doesn't come in quite the same flavors, so I have to go to Dash's to get those now.) And still others where the Wegmans version is pricier. And, alas, some where the more expensive Wegmans version is better. (Polly-O string cheese, why are you so bland?? You're a snack baby. The Wegmans generic has salt in it and is a ton more pleasant to eat.)

IDK I don't have a thesis here it's just that being alive in the 2020s is way harder than being alive in the 2000s even though I was poorer then and didn't know shit. I don't miss my youth and I super don't miss George W Bush but I miss when I was figuring stuff out and it seemed to make sense. And I sorta miss when the Wegmans cashiers used to wear t-shirts bragging about how highly-ranked Wegmans was by whatever organization that was that ranked how good places are to work for.

Also, they try to steer you to use the self checkouts, but baby if you have more than two shopping bags' worth of stuff in your cart you had better wait in however long that line is to let a real human put it into bags for you because the self-checkout does not have any mechanism for you to remove and replace a full shopping bag from the bagging area. I told the cashier how much I appreciated him because he wasn't screaming at me, and he was like yah those self-checkouts yell at you a lot.

(Every Wegmans cashier for twenty years has been super nice. I doubt they're in a union, I wish they were.)

Yeah yeah this is the most middle-aged thing I've written yet but I'm in physical therapy and just bought a recliner for the ergonomics so I'm clearly grappling with my own mortality here, and I'm writing this partly out of concern for the kids who are where I was in 2000. What the hell are they being conditioned to do, by all this????? Shit, man.

[sassenach77yle]

“You thought you were dying when we brought you up here, didn’t you?” I asked. My voice sounded more bewildered than accusing. It took him a moment to answer, though he didn’t look hesitant. It was more as though he was looking for the proper words. “Well, I didna ken for sure, no,” he said slowly. “Though I did feel verra ill.” His eyes closed, slowly, as though he were too tired to keep them open. “I still do,” he added, in a detached sort of voice.

“Ye needna worry, though—I’ve made my choice.”

“What on earth do you mean by that?” I groped beneath the covers, and found his wrist. He was warm; hot again, in fact, and with a pulse that was too fast, too shallow. Still, it was so different from the deathly chill I had felt in him the night before that my first reaction was relief. He took a couple of deep breaths, then turned his head and opened his eyes to look at me. “I mean I could have died last night.” He could, certainly—and yet that wasn’t what he meant. He made it sound like a conscious— “What do you mean you’ve made your choice? You’ve decided not to die, after all?” I tried to speak lightly, but it wasn’t working very well. I remembered all too well that odd sense of timeless stillness that had surrounded us. “It was verra strange,” he said. “And yet it wasna strange at all.” He sounded faintly surprised.

“I think,” I said carefully, keeping a thumb on his pulse, “you’d better tell me just what happened.” He actually smiled at that, though the smile was more in his eyes than his lips. Those were dry, and painfully cracked in the corners. I touched his lips with a finger, wanting to go and fetch some soothing ointment for him, some water, some tea—but I put aside the impulse, steeling myself to stay and hear. “I dinna really know, Sassenach—or rather, I do, but I canna think quite how to say it.” He still looked tired, but his eyes stayed open. They lingered on my face, a vivid blue in the morning light, with an expression almost of curiosity, as though he hadn’t seen me before.

“You are so beautiful,” he said, softly. “So verra beautiful, mo chridhe.”

My hands were covered with fading blue blotches and overlooked smears of buffalo blood, I could feel my hair clinging in unwashed tangles to my neck, and I could smell everything from the stale-urine odor of dye to the reek of fear-sweat on my body. And yet whatever he saw lit his face as though he were looking at the full moon on a summer night, pure and lovely. His eyes stayed fixed on my face as he talked, absorbed, moving slightly as they seemed to trace my features. “I felt verra badly indeed when Arch and Roger Mac brought me up,” he said. “Terribly sick, and my leg and my head both throbbing with each heartbeat, so much that I began to dread the next. And so I would listen to the spaces between. Ye wouldna think it,” he said, sounded vaguely surprised, “but there is a great deal of time between the beats of a heart.” He had, he said, begun to hope, in those spaces, that the next beat would not come. And slowly, he realized that his heart was indeed slowing—and that the pain was growing remote, something separate from himself. His skin had grown colder, the fever fading from both body and mind, leaving the latter oddly clear. “And this is where I canna really say, Sassenach.” He pulled his wrist from my grip in the intensity of his story, and curled his fingers over mine. “But I . . . saw.” “Saw what?” And yet I already knew that he couldn’t tell me. Like any doctor, I had seen sick people make up their minds to die—and I knew that look they sometimes had; eyes wide-fixed on something in the distance. He hesitated, struggling to find words. I thought of something, and jumped in to try to help. “There was an elderly woman,” I said. “She died in the hospital where I was on staff—all her grown children with her, it was very peaceful.” I looked down, my own eyes fixed on his fingers, still red and slightly swollen, interlaced with my own stained and bloody digits. “She died—she was dead, I could see her pulse had stopped, she wasn’t breathing. All her children were by her bedside, weeping. And then, quite suddenly, her eyes opened. She wasn’t looking at any of them, but she was seeing something. And she said, quite clearly, ‘Oooh!’ Just like that—thrilled, like a little girl who’s just seen something wonderful. And then she closed her eyes again.” I looked up at him, blinking back tears. “Was it—like that?” He nodded, speechless, and his hand tightened on mine. “Something like,” he said, very softly. He had felt oddly suspended, in a place he could by no means describe, feeling completely at peace—and seeing very clearly. “It was as if there was a—it wasna a door, exactly, but a passageway of some kind—before me. And I could go through it, if I wanted. And I did want to,” he said, giving me a sideways glance and a shy smile. He had known what lay behind him, too, and realized that for that moment, he could choose. Go forward—or turn back. “And that’s when you asked me to touch you?” “I knew ye were the only thing that could bring me back,” he said simply. “I didna have the strength, myself.” There was a huge lump in my throat; I couldn’t speak, but squeezed his hand very tight. “Why?” I asked at last. “Why did you . . . choose to stay?” My throat was still tight, and my voice was hoarse. He heard it, and his hand tightened on mine; a ghost of his usual firm grip, and yet with the memory of strength within it. “Because ye need me,” he said, very softly. “Not because you love me?” He looked up then, with a shadow of a smile.

“Sassenach . . . I love ye now, and I will love ye always. Whether I am dead—or you—whether we are together or apart. You know it is true,” he said quietly, and touched my face. “I know it of you, and ye know it of me as well.”

He bent his head then, the bright hair swinging down across his cheek. “I didna mean only you, Sassenach. I have work still to do. I thought—for a bit—that perhaps it wasna so; that ye all might manage, with Roger Mac and auld Arch, Joseph and the Beardsleys. But there is war coming, and—for my sins—” he grimaced slightly, “I am a chief.” He shook his head slightly, in resignation. “God has made me what I am. He has given me the duty—and I must do it, whatever the cost.”

“The cost,” I echoed uneasily, hearing something harsher than resignation in his voice. He looked at me, then glanced, almost off-handed, toward the foot of the bed. “My leg’s no much worse,” he said, matter-of-factly, “but it’s no better. I think ye’ll have to take it off.”

The fiery cross

[whimsicalpolitical]

Tourbus cuddles // Ross Macdonald x Reader

Summery: A tourbus is small and it’s even smaller when your boyfriend is a giant. You both manage though.

warnings: none just fluff

Masterlist

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It’s a shit weather today. You still haven’t reached Buffalo and in the next few hours you won’t. It’s a thunderstorm out there, and you hate anything in relation to thunder and lightning. It’s quite good you’re in the tourbus with your boyfriend and friends.

With a blanket draped over you and Ross’ lap, you’re in the third round of UNO with Adam, Polly, John and Gabbriette.

“Do you think we have to cancel the show?” John asks while throwing a 4+ into the round. “Asshole,” Gabby says with a laugh, picking up 4 cards.

“I don’t know, it’s a possibility though if the weather gets even worse.” You sigh at Polly’s answer because you absolutely hate worse. It’s bad right now, but if it gets even worse, you’re staying under the blanket forever.

“Fucking wanker!” Matty screamed at the switch on the table. George breaks out in laughter, “you suck at this game.” Everyone watches them with a smile on their faces. This is home. Those people are your home.

Ross squeezes your thigh and gives you a quick kiss on your cheek before he stands up to go to the toilet. He won the round anyway.

“Hey, plug in my phone will you?” John hands you his phone and his charger. You turn around to the socket and stick the charger in but it doesn’t load. “Is your charger broken?” You ask and try twisting the side of the charger.

“Power is fucking out.” Matty yells from the very front of the bus. This night couldn’t get any better. “This sucks,” John says, “let’s hope when I wake up we’re at the destination.” He gets up and drapes his hoodie over his shoulder. “Good night.” Everyone says their good nights to John and continue to chat about tour.

When Ross gets back from the toilet you take his hand and kiss his knuckles. “I think I’m gonna head to bed as well.” You say and rub your eyes. Ross smiles, nods and takes your face into his hands to kiss you. “Gonna see you in the morning?” He asks and wraps himself up in the blanket. He’s the cutest man ever.

“Yeah, I love you.” You say and wave at everyone. You have the bunk bed above Gabbriette. It’s small and cozy but sleeping in it was terrifying at first. You left the curtain open all the time because you thought you couldn’t breathe in this tiny space. But now you’re laying under 2 blankets with the curtains closed to drown out the noise.

One more look at your phone and you’re in deep sleep. Not so deep actually because you awake at 2:30. You rub your eyes and jump at the loud rumbling of the thunder. You open the curtains and listen further. There is no talking which means everyone is in their bed by now.

Another unpleasant feeling is the sting in your lower stomach. You’ve been on your period for 2 days now, the third day is usually not so bad, but this only occurs to when you’re home and when you sleep in bed with your boyfriend. You have no choice though, the space is as tiny as it gets.

You try hard to fall asleep again but you can’t. You slowly get up to go to the kitchen area to grab a glass of water. When you get back you see Gabbriette on her phone in her bed and Matty’s face in her lap.“You up?” She asks and puts her phone down.

You nod and take a sip of the tap water, “this thunder is scaring me shitless, I’m on my period and I have to sleep in a tiny bed.” She chuckles at your frustrated sound.

“And Ross isn’t with you,” Matty adds which makes you sigh. Gabby gives you a smile. Matty and her usually fall asleep in the same bed but it looks uncomfortable and one awakes with back pain every time.

You definitely can’t take any more pain with what’s going on but you’re willing to handle it if it means cuddling with Ross. “ ‘M sure he wouldn’t mind having a cuddle, he’s whipped for you.” It feels like Matty is reading your mind. You nod and set the glass down onto a small table.

“I’m gonna do that, have a good night guys,” you wink at Gabby and she rolls her eyes at your indication. You walk away from the two of them, towards Ross’ bed, their chatting getting quieter.

Usually Ross also has the upper bed but this tour George really wanted it and Ross didn’t mind switching. His curtain is open and he’s laying on his stomach, hiding his hands under his pillow. It’s better to reach him, with him sleeping on the lower bed.

You can’t slip in because he’s taking up all the space right now. You crouch down and slowly nudge his shirt. “Ross?” You quietly say, “baby,” you try again. This time he stirs and opens his eyes slowly.

He mumbles your name in the dark and then he sees your face, your facial expression being uncomfortable. “Love, what’s wrong?” He says and uplifts himself onto his elbows. He rubs your cheek with his thumb and waits for an answer.

“It’s nothing serious it’s just-“ you pause and let the lightning light up the space. You see Ross’ tired eyes, you feel bad for waking him up. “It’s stupid, I’m sorry for waking you.” He shakes his head and doesn’t let you get up.

“Tell me darling,” his voice barely above a whisper. He lets his hand go through his hair, sleeking it back. You admire his face, and you absolutely adore his beard which he currently scratches.

“I just really wanna sleep in your bed, but it’s tiny and I get it. You’re really tall and I shouldn’t have woken you for this and-“ he cuts you off by scootching closer to the wall side. He lifts his blanket and intertwines your hands.

“Come here,” he whispers. You smile and close your eyes for a second. Then you slip in, not to be spooned but to face him and to nuzzle your face into his chest.

He puts the blanket around you and rests his head on yours. He gives you a couple of kisses and Ross in this state is causing you to become less focused on sleep and more focused on the way his breath sounds so close to your ear. “Thank you,” you say and kiss his shoulder blade.

“Mmhhmm,” he humms from deep in his throat with closed lips. You didn’t think you’d fit and you barely do with your side touching the bar, but you’re here now and that’s what matters.

There is basically no space between the two of you, but you manage to bring your hand up to Ross’ face and cup his jaw. You lean in and press a soft kiss to his lips. Ross doesn’t hesitate to kiss you back.

“Thought you were tired,” he says after pulling away from you, you both smile at each other and then you hide your face in his chest again. “I am,” you mumble.

“Sleep then, we have to get up early.” It should be about 3 now. You’re gonna be tired either way in the morning but it’s not a worry. You ignore his demand and keep on talking.

“I don’t like the weather, how is anyone supposed to sleep with noise like that.” You huff and roll your eyes. Ross snorts at you and rubs your back soothingly.

“Oh so you’re scared, ‘s why you came.” He partly speaks the truth but he doesn’t have to know it. You shake your head, “not scared, just uncomfortable.”

“Alright then,” he totally doesn’t believe you and you know it because you feel the smile on his face. “You good to sleep then?” Ross is on the verge of falling asleep again and you don’t want to keep him up any longer.

“Yes, thank you again baby. I love you so much.” Ross sleepily kisses you again. “I love you so much more,” he swoops his arm around your side and pulls you as close as he can, your bodies not having a centimeter between them.

Both of you close your eyes and another thunder causes you to jump a bit. Ross chuckles and shakes his head against you. “Don’t worry love,” his mouth comes closer down to your ear, “I’ll protect you.”

[mama-qwerty]

do you have any fun scu knuckles headcanons? maybe like what things are like when they get back to green hills??

Oh, well, first of all, Maddie is so angry she can't speak for a good five minutes when they return. Wade and Knux are both standing at the door, their heads hanging low, looking for all the world like dogs who had just peed on the antique, hand-woven rug that's been in her family for ten generations.

She opens the door, eyes going wide as she sees them. She opens her mouth, letting out a little squeak before closing it again. She tries again, and still just a squeak comes out. Then she slams the door in their faces. Opens it again. Another squeak. Another slam. Opens it again and hisses at them through gritted teeth "GET. IN. HERE."

They wisely obey.

They are both sat on the couch as she paces back and forth in front of them. Arms crossed, mouth pulled into a thin line. Every now and then she shoots them both a glare so hot they shrink under its weight.

Finally, she stops, bringing her clasped hands to her chin, and takes a long, deep breath. She lets it out slowly, before asking them just what in the ever-loving hell they thought they were doing.

They explain. They speak over each other, adding to the other's explanation, expanding on a point that hadn't been given very well. They laughed at some points, and quickly glossed over the bits they didn't think she'd take very well.

And as they talk, as they explain where they'd been for the past few days, Maddie notices something.

Knuckles, the most dangerous warrior in the galaxy, actually looked happy. His face was relaxed and he smiled more than she'd ever seen him since they'd taken him in. He and Wade seemed to have formed a bond on this trip, and even the deputy seemed more confident.

When they finish the tale of their adventure, Maddie feels her anger fade. She admits that she doesn't like how they simply disappeared--especially since Knuckles was supposed to be grounded--but it looks like their little road trip was good for them both. And she's so happy they're both okay.

But don't do it again.

After this, Knuckles has learned to have fun. He still trains, sure. He's gotten into the habit of jumping Sonic out of the blue under the guise of training--"Beware, surprise ambush!" he'll shout before pouncing on the hedgehog. Tails thinks it's hilarious, but Sonic's not too fond of it.

Wade and Knuckles have become best buds, and they go bowling at least once a week. Knuckles had a hard time in the early games, but Wade celebrated every pin the echidna knocked over without damaging anything as a glorious victory. Nachos are a favorite snack, followed closely by buffalo wings. Knuckles holds the record for the most wings eaten in 5 minutes.

When Wade goes back to visit his mother, he brings Knuckles with him--with Maddie's permission, of course. Wendy loves her little Knux, and they watch all sorts of movies together.

Tails had tried planting a tracker in Knux's shoe to keep tabs on him, because he didn't like carrying a phone. "It makes a strange humming sound, and makes my skin tingle," was his complaint, which no one really understood, but they didn't push it. The tracker didn't last more than two days, as it burnt out if Knux powered up and went sparky.

They came to an agreement that Knuckles would simply let someone know where he was when he was out. It took a few weeks to fully implant that into his head, but soon he got into the habit of either leaving a note or making sure he was seen around town.

And Wade always seemed to know where he was. "Bestie privileges," he'd said once when asked about it. "You know how it goes."

He's still a warrior . . . but he's thinking maybe he doesn't have to be right now. Maybe he doesn't have to train every day. Maybe it's okay to go fishing. Or bowling. Or watch movies. Or help people around town run errands or fix things or work in their gardens.

Maybe it's okay to just . . . be.

It's something he'd never done before. But he has to admit . . . he kinda likes it.

[nonbinaryspy]

Fun Facts About Cheren (mostly from BW2)

- He claims to have given up his glasses so he could focus on Pokémon battles, but someone going by the name "3rdGradeGoodyGoody" wrote into 'The National Gymquirer' after witnessing him "making his thumb and middle finger into a circle like glasses," implying he misses them.

- This contains the broader implication that Cheren's students write in to gossip shows about him.

- According to both BW2 and Pokemas, he loves taking his Pokémon to the salon.

- For tactical reasons, he gives his Pokémon berries.

- An NPC beside the weather institute mentions that you can call Cheren to ask him about Pokémon natures and type advantages. While this is of course a hint to the player, in-universe it implies that people who live nowhere near Cheren have his number and regularly call to ask him to read them the encyclopedia.

- Luckily enough, in many adaptations and spinoffs, he has a nice voice.

- At the shrine dedicated to Landorus, you can fight one of his students. She talks like a valley girl, speaks admiringly about him, and has a Deerling and a Zangoose.

- His Pokémon include a cat, a dog, a bird, a monkey, a chinchilla, two vigilant rodents, a buffalo, a bunny, a mongoose, a blob affected by weather, an upgraded artificial creation, a boulder, a dragon, and Lickilicky.

- He lives in the mountains but hates cold weather. This is the in-universe explanation for why he enlists a preteen to take care of the game's plot despite being among the first to notice the signs of Kyurem's imminent ice age.

- In fairness, on his first day at his second job, said preteen kicked his ass.

- He was a very good sport about this, though afterward he complained about it to the scientist from his home town.

- His favorite people are his childhood friends, one of whom is a legendary dragon's Chosen One and the other of whom is an insecure-yet-peppy researcher with a complementary color scheme to his, and a wandering grandpa who implicitly helped him get his first job.

- Said grandpa compares Cheren, visibly a scrawny nerd, to another mentee of his who is a martial artist. Said martial artist seems to take no offense to this.

- Said grandpa and said martial artist both regularly jump off of cliffs. Amusingly, in Pokemas, Cheren is shown to make multiple dramatic entrances by simply walking around tall places instead of jumping down from them.

- His dog, however, jumps down dramatically in his stead.

- He and said dog are "best buds."

- Though his catchphrase is "what a bother," as 'the one who seeks the right path,' he's incredibly good at making sentimental speeches relevant to the games' themes about ideals and bonds, and has touching dialogue in the post games of both BW (link to no commentary vid) and BW2 as well as in the mobile game's main story and events.

- He doesn't understand why ferris wheels are fun, so he spends multiple rides trying to figure it out, before concluding that he dislikes the fact that the view changes because he prefers things to stay the same.

- He's very tall.

[tinyowlthoughts]

EC Theobromine Notes

Been thinking a lot about this crew of dorks the past month and working on a 'first' story, where Max met the crew in the usual unconventional-but-conventionally-human-way. Since Chocolate and Bluffing are still getting notes (Who are you people?!?!?! (and I'm glad you're enjoying it :3c)) I figured I'd share my own notes about the crew:

Max Species: Human Age: Early 30s Pronouns: They/Them Position: Navigator Appearance: Androgynous human of short stature Fun Facts: They were not officially assigned to the Theobromine (story coming soon!)

Taurvin Species: Scrofa Age: 350 Pronouns: He/Him Position: Captain Appearance: Towering (10 foot tall) bipedal bear made of lava and molten rock Fun Fact: When calm, Taurvin's skin appears to be obsidian plates formed together. When angry, the lava that is his blood begins to glow, making him look like a volcano on the edge of bursting, and smoke will emerge from his nostrils. He has been known to smoke out a whole pub when losing trivia night. His right arm is a prosthetic, that closely mimics his own skin, so not many notice it, even among his crew.

Gorvan Species: Stakad Age: 201 (Just achieved legal drinking age for his species) Pronouns: He/Him Position: First Mate Appearance: Fluffy bipedal with four arms, two horns, a long prehensile tufted tail, and a perpetual expression of confusion Fun Fact: Is the second-most compassionate on board (after Elaana) and makes a point of ensuring all the crew members are comfortable and have what they need.

Elaana Species: Lepida Age: 20 Pronouns: She/her Position: Medical Appearance: Bipedal insectoid with moth wings, antenna, and large, compound eyes Fun Fact: Lepida cry pollen, which sets off allergies among other crew members at times; thus, she rarely cries outside of her quarters, wanting to spare her friends the distress (and runny facial orifices). Low-key crushing on Lenzoill.

Epitak Species: Corvi (distant relative of Zads, from the same planet) Age: 1248 Pronouns: Ze/Zim Position: Engineer Appearance: Bipedal crow with a crest of feathers on zeir head that give away zeir emotions; wings sprout along zeir arms Fun Fact: Has several hidden stashes of shiny objects aboard the ship, ranging from tinfoil left over from cooking to jewels he, er, 'liberated' from unappreciative shop keepers.

Dhaca Species: Snallygaster Age: 42 (He has not read the Hitchhikers Guide, and does not understand Max when they quote it at him) Pronouns: He/They Position: Biologist & Chemist Appearance: Three-foot tall reptilian with a single, large eye, multiple tongues, leather wings with claws, two arms, and no legs Fun Fact: He cannot fly with his wings, though they can give him a boost when jumping, and the claws on the end work as an extra pair of hands when he is experimenting. He has blown himself up more than once, luckily his scaly skin serves as pretty good blast protection. He has an entire crate of back-up glasses that regularly has to be restocked.

Lenzoill Species: Bubalus Age: 22 Pronouns: She/Her Position: Head of Security Appearance: Bipedal water buffalo with horns and a long, whip-like tail Fun Fact: Is a complete badass with training in multiple melee combat styles, ranged weapons, and melee weapons. Her favorite is an energy sword (that max compares to a lightsaber, though its more comparable to a broadsword made of energy), but in a pinch her sharpened horns can be used when charging. Is less competent with emotions, not due to any meathead trope but because her race is not as socially advanced as others and still holds prejudice views against non-traditional relationships. Being gay, she keeps her emotions to herself in order to protect her families reputation. (She'll figure it out eventually, no worries.) High-key crushing on Elaana but doesn't know how to act on it.

Qhals Species: Acinonyx Age: 19 Pronouns: He/Him Position: Linguist Appearance: Feline centaur with short fur, spots, and the cutest little floofy ears that give away his emotions (as the youngest crew member he gets teased relentlessly) Fun Fact: Qhals is comparable to a cheetah for several reasons - his spots, his ability to get along with a wide variety of species (aka there's no such thing as strangers, just friends he hasn't met yet), and his ability to mimic most vocal languages, and understand almost all of them! He is a true polyglot, and even without his translator implant can usually pick up on the gist of foreign languages through universal constants, body language, and charades. (Max asked him about something called 'autism' once, but apparently Acinonyx often have special interests that vary and becoming hyper fixated on something isn't unusual. Max squinted and asked about something called 'trains', which Qhals admitted to not being familiar with, though he did start info-dumping on a trolley-like system common in his home planets capital. This, for some reason, set Max giggling.)

Ir'ith Species: Zad (distant relatives of Corvi, from the same planet) Age: Nobody knows - old, though. Pronouns: He/Him/Not Late For Dinner Position: Quartermaster/Cook Appearance: Bipedal raven with a wings attached to the back, separate from the arms, forward-facing knees, and feather crests alongside his head that serve as ears Fun Fact: Nobody remembers him being assigned - he just showed up one day and took over as quartermaster and ship cook. Taurvin and Gorvan know his papers are forged, but he's the only one onboard who can cook, and he hasn't been threatening/dangerous, so they've let him be. Unlike Epitak, who can only glide, Ir'ith can fly.

Extra Facts:

Except for the human and snallygaster, all species names have Latin roots. (Google Snallygaster if you haven't, they're incredible. Top 10 cryptid.)

Scientifically, cheetahs are not in the same family as other big cats! They are in the family Felidae, the same as housecats, because they can't roar, and can purr. They can also chirp, chitter, and trill. Qhals can do all of this, plus hiss and growl when he's annoyed. He can yell, but unlike other feline-esque species, he can't roar.

Acinonyx are also very touchy species - they do cuddle piles, greet others with cheek-rubs, and will wrap their tail around friends/family/partners/etc. absent mindedly. This extends to other species as well, and it is not uncommon to find Qhals wrapped around somebody in the common areas while they do work/nap/watch the space equivalent of YouTube/etc.

The other feline species on the Qhals planet of Dae (which are heavily reminiscent of human feline species because a human is writing this) range in size from the large, striped Gris who excel in gladiatorial sports to the tiny, spotted Ailurus who are renowned trackers, hunters, and trappers (and who will stab you if you make fun of their height). Unlike the Corvi and Zad, there is no hierarchy between the species and subspecies, but instead a dependency on everyone to do what is needed to help society flourish. That's not to say racist, speciest pricks don't exist, but when everyone has knives for claws, they tend to keep it on the downlow in public.

Traditionally, on their planet, Zad are subservient to Corvi, due to size and power difference. While Epitak is larger than Ir'ith, the latter has never once deferred to the former, and in fact seems to take great joy in denying Epitak any form of traditional respect.

Few Bubalus leave their planet - while they are content to trade, they are a very insular species and prefer to stay home. The countries of their world are divided into different communities with different dialects, traditions, etc. The one Lenzoill was from had set traditional gender roles and ideals for what a young female who can bear children should do. Infertile females are often shunned and sent to relatives in other communities who are more open minded.

In this story/setting, Humans are very much a 'recent' species (less than 200 years of integration), and thus there are still many rumors and such about them. They are not often seen in the far reaches of space (making Max an anomaly for many), and are known as a violent, bloodthirsty species who are willing to do whatever they must for survival/riches/clout. Very much a space orc ideal of them, which Max is 10000% willing to use to their advantage when their friends/crew are in trouble. (There's no way that will ever backfire. Nope. Never.)

There is this awful art piece of them, which I plan on redrawing eventually now that I have a better idea of how I want them to work. Not anytime soon - Summer Reading Program is in full swing and I barely have time to blink, let alone draw - but hopefully within the next few months. I'm also working on an 'origin story' of how Max joined the crew, and their reactions to it, and have a stockpile of ideas to work on in the future when I have a chance.

I'm so happy this story keeps getting attention, and that so many people like it! The EC Theobromine is definitely going to have more adventures. : D

(PS: I keep putting 'he' instead of 'they' for Max, if you see that in a story please let me know so I can correct it. Max is nonbinary and I sometimes mistype and don't catch it during writing/editing.)

[fretarot]

Pick a pile their feelings for you!

Please read energy first to see if this is the right pile for you and figure which person you are A or B based on the energy!🥰

Happy reading! Lmk which pile and which person you have picked😙

If you would like to book a personal reading please check my services on my pinned post.

Pile 1 - Apology

Person A - fire ant energy

You might feel in this connection the need to be “cool” and “chilled out” however there’s a fire inside you that’s slowly but surely spreading in your feelings for this person, there’s undeniable love that’s coming to the point you can’t ignore it anymore, you seem to have a sort of childlike personality when it comes to your person and can’t help but feel giggly around them, which at times finding yourself doing so you could be thinking “wth this isn’t me lemme stop” but there’s definitely a call for you to swoon this person, or open up your feelings towards them for once and for all, feeling the need to go all in without a strategic plan at hand, you could be told a lot of times that you do things impulsively and for some people this isn’t their cup of tea, you could’ve grown up being told often to settle down or to “think before you speak!”

A lot of fire energy in this pile , you could have Aries Leo or Sagittarius placements, definitely giving the vibes of “do it now think later”, along with this a little bit of water signs energy came up, person A you could have Fire and Water in your chart/big three.

Person B - Buffalo energy

You usually would like to describe yourself as someone that’s quite grounded, reliable, knowledgeable and i feel your family and friends can vouch this for you as well on this, however recently you could’ve hit a bump on the road where it’s quite hard for you to be as productive as once was, being scared of jumping head first into things and new challenges due to the anxiety of things splurging out of control or going through another tower moment unexpectedly, in turn found a routine, you’ve been sticking to it and even though it might seem quite too repetitive for you, it is your safe haven, it’s where you know what to expect, at times might even find yourself not as sociable either, feeling like you can’t give out to someone else right now when barely being able to give yourself the experience and fun you deserve, there’s the energy of exhaustion here.

A lot of Earth energy here Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn with a little bit of fire. These could be present in your placements.

Fire ants feelings towards person B

In your feelings currently and how you see your connection, you could be seeing them as someone that you want to rile up or start a conflict with them to at least get something out of them, to see what limits you could push until they open up more , person A I can tell you’re feeling left out by your person, feeling that you’re not being heard about certain things or that they’re way too nonchalant for you, feeling at times that they’re like a robot, just doing the bare minimum not only for this connection but in their life as well, doing just enough, being on a strict routine of a eat, sleep, work or school and repeat and this is something that could be out of your normal usually or you could be the type of person that’s more open but feeling the need to be restrictive in case you chase them away if you push too much.

How person B ( Buffalo) feels towards their person - you feel yourself drifting away from your person, and not only just them but to others too, and finding solitude in isolation, finding being at peace is being by yourself and learning how to love yourself, I do see you putting a lot of work into yourself which is progressing into the right direction, however when it comes to your person you feel that perhaps they don’t understand why you can’t just “snap” out of this rut, as it requires intensive inner work, but at the same time you understand you shouldn’t leave everyone in the dark making you feel more guilty, worried it’ll cause arguments or conflicts or being forced to be something you can’t be right now and neither are truly.

Overall for both -

I do see person B coming towards person A with some sort of explanation with why they drifted away and for some of you they even went ghost, Person A I promise you will get the apology that you’re eager for, Person A it’s time to let Person B know how you feel about them, I feel they do need that boost from you, try to let them know the struggles you have also previously gone through and try to let them know that there is a lending hand when they need it as they feel they’ll bother you by coming clean of their situation, ultimately I see you both coming to a understanding of how each of you can contribute towards each others needs but it will take some time, that’s a factor here, but working slowly will get everything on track.

Pile 2- self love

Person A- Nightingale energy

Person A you as the energy of nightingale, you usually are someone that usually can be upfront, not being afraid of speaking up, telling people what’s on your mind when it’s in the right times and even when it can be at the most wrongful times 😅, but there is something about your voice that makes people listen, either you can be someone that’s very convincing/ persuasive, you could even be one to sing and others love to hear it, you are giving the energy of someone that doesn’t usually stand out or you might feel it so, but people are attracted towards you either way, you could’ve been told before you have this alluring energy about yourself.

Person B - Energy of the stingray

Person B, coming up as the energy of the stingray you are someone that usually likes to take on a challenge, you can be eager around wanting to grow and very adaptable to your environment and schedules, however you’ve been stuck in your ego recently and I know , I know I don’t want to call you out but I have to, your using your ego to protect yourself, perhaps you feel that you have put in a lot of word in yourself prior and now you don’t feel the need to change all over again to make someone else happy, and that’s all within your rights, but there’s w need for you to escape from the mental trap you have put yourself in, the external is not as bad as your mind is playing it to be, and it’s okay to come back to reality.

Persons A feelings towards person B

You could’ve started off as friends with person B, starting things slowly and then all of a sudden coming to surprise that the both of you have been hiding feelings this whole time, there’s an unexpected energy here between the two of you, this could’ve come from you being shocked that the two of you even ended up together, but I’m also seeing a state of shock around some kind of ending when it comes to the two of you, for a big part of pile 2 and person A I would be surprised if you haven’t lost Person B and are currently going through a breakup or no contact, person A seems to feel a lot of regret and pain when it comes to their person , and they feel guilt around something here, Person A could’ve been the one that possibly walked away from Person B but that won’t be for everyone of this pile, reverse it as it resonates, but heavy energy around Person A walking away from something here and not being sure if that was the best decision to make, there’s a stagnant energy around Person A where they can’t move forwards from a person B but at the same time it doesn’t look like they want to, they would’ve rather work things out than have to come to that for some of you if you are person A I can definitely tell that you didn’t want to have it come to that.

How person B feels towards Person A

Person B is coming up as someone that’s very stuck mentally, emotionally quite unstable when it comes to their feelings for A, they currently don’t feel comfortable being around Person A due to not feeling like themselves unfortunately around Person A, they feel that the both of you have changed tremendously since the two of you have known each other and they’re not sure on how to fix things, they’re currently focusing on self care and loving on themselves, and it seems that as off right now they feel the need of taking a step back from this connection and bring distance into it.

Overall energy- it looks like the both of you will be prioritising your own selves at this time, and quite significantly unfortunately drifting away from each other, trying to build routines and growth separately.

Pile 3- Justice

Person A - golden egg energy

Person A is giving the energy of an old friend, someone that you have known for a very long time, and you find comfort in them, either this is you to and for person B or you have been told often that you give off a sense of familiarity to everyone you meet, you bring a sense of comfort and quietness, you could yourself person A be quite a timid person or someone that doesn’t usually budge into peoples business or you wait for others to talk to you first before you approach anyone, you are definitely someone that has a lot of layers to themselves and it takes a lot for you to “crack”😅 or open up to others, you can only be who you truly are around the ones you love most and that’s when you find it easiest to let loose.

Libra energy, water energy, you could have these in your placements.

Person B - Snake energy

Person B you are someone that could at times be described as someone that’s creative, ambitious perhaps you work in a creative role, such as art, landscape, architecture, design, etc, perhaps you are someone that finds themselves expressing themselves through actions rather than their words or perhaps writing it down, or poetry, you could be someone that has a lot of passion and love towards someone but when it comes to voicing it, you could be finding it hard and choose other ways to show them rather by talking, at times out of balance you might find yourself being quite a flighty person, showing up and going as you please, starting out new things but never finishing them before you start something new.

Earth energy for Person B, along with water.

How person A feels towards person b

Person A - there’s a lot of emotion from them when it comes to person B, almost like they see Person B the snake for who they truly are and not who they try to show the world, person A is definitely the one that notices all the small things about person B such as how they act when they are nervous or how they’ll perhaps blink Weirdly when uncomfortable, very little things that at times person B never even noticed, Person A is definitely giving provider type of vibes towards B and they look out for them alot, even though at times they don’t fully feel this being reciprocated, either way they feel balanced in this connection.

How person B feels towards person A

The snake person B is a charmerrr, they know how to work in ways to surprise person A, and they feel the need of wanting to try new things to come out with, there is definitely heavy feelings between the both of these energies, which are very equal and person B really feels in Union with person A at times, they even feel like they’re looking at a mirror when they see Person A, the snake energy wants to come through and show person A new opportunities, new adventures and they are also very logical they go about things, they feel the need to have everything ready and Perfect around them, the snake person sees the golden egg as someone that will always have a soft space in their heart and has plans on keeping it that way if they can.

Overall energy for both - you both feel like this is a match made in heaven, and both are mirroring each other in ways you thought could never be possible, this connection is very promising, you both balance each other amazingly.

[leohtttbriar]

To be of use

By Marge Piercy

The people I love the best jump into work head first without dallying in the shallows and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight. They seem to become natives of that element, the black sleek heads of seals bouncing like half-submerged balls.

I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart, who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience, who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward, who do what has to be done, again and again.

I want to be with people who submerge in the task, who go into the fields to harvest and work in a row and pass the bags along, who are not parlor generals and field deserters but move in a common rhythm when the food must come in or the fire be put out.

The work of the world is common as mud. Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust. But the thing worth doing well done has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident. Greek amphoras for wine or oil, Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums but you know they were made to be used. The pitcher cries for water to carry and a person for work that is real.

[rabbitcruiser]

National Bison Day 

You see them everywhere — on coins, on sports team logos, and a couple of state flags. No, we’re not talking about the bald eagle. This honor is reserved for North American bison. On National Bison Day, November 2, an annual event that falls on the first Saturday in November, all Americans should reflect on the impact bison have as a part of our environmental and cultural heritage. Bison are especially revered by Native people — central to their survival as both food and spiritual inspiration.

National Bison Day timeline

1900s ​Bison herds severely reduced due to excessive hunting and abuses

Hunting dramatically reduced the population — leaving a mere 700 in private herds; even Yellowstone was left with only 23 bison by 1902.

1992 ​​Native American tribes formed new group to share resources and help bison

The InterTribal Indian Council formed not only to return bison to tribal lands,  but also to create culturally-sensitive educational programs and provide both technical resources and help to 56 tribes.

​1997 Groups signed Bison Memorandum of Understanding

​The  first conservation agreement between an environmental organization and a diverse collective of Native American tribes agreed to combine efforts to return wild bison to tribal land.

​2012 ​The U.S. Senate passed first National Bison Day Resolution

The Senate passed its first resolution honoring National Bison Day, which was also supported by various tribal groups and  the Wildlife Conservation Society.

How to Observe National Bison Day

Sign a petition

Visit a national park

Wear your National Bison Day T-shirt

Stand in support of returning wild bison to their original tribal lands on thousands of acres of Native American reservations. Collaborations among certain groups are working to remind Americans about the important role bison play in the lives of native peoples. Bison are considered sacred and they are even featured in certain tribal creation stories. Bison have also been a source of food and clothing — providing hides for tents, robes, shoes, and tools so that people could survive in harsh climates.

You may not be able to get to a large national park like Yellowstone, but there are a vast number of smaller parks from which to choose. Imagine what it must have been like to see thousands of bison freely roaming the plains. Give your children a chance to experience the wonder of our latest national icon — the bison.

Many groups use this day to raise funds in support of bison. It won’t be hard to find a T-shirt showing your love of bison. Wear it proudly because it’s for a great, patriotic cause.

5 Reasons We Love Our Bison

​Watch that tail

​They've got skills

​They're oldies but goodies

​Throw a stone — hit a bison

Bison as symbols

​If a bison’s tail is hanging down and moves naturally from side to side, the animal is relaxed. But when the tail stands straight up, it's a signal the bison is getting ready to charge.

​Given their size as the largest mammals in North America, bison are surprisingly agile with an ability to  swim well, jump up to six feet, and run between 35 and 40 mph.

Bison have always roamed in Yellowstone National Park as evidenced by prehistoric fossils found in modern times.

​Herds of bison can be found in all 50 states.

​The American bison is not only the country's official mammal; the bison is also the state mammal of Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Kansas.

Why National Bison Day is Important

It's our national mammal

They're different from buffalo

They were almost extinct

President Obama, with the support of a broad coalition of Native American tribes, wildlife support groups, and concerned members of the Senate, signed a 2015  law making the proud and majestic bison our  national mammal. This law helps to protect bison from extinction and encourages a return back to their native tribal lands.

We know you have been wondering about this so we're going to set you straight. Bison and buffalo are not the same.  Bison are native to North and South America and Europe, while the traditional home of the buffalo is in Africa and Asia. At the height of their magnificence, there were between 30 and 60 million bison in the New World circa the 16th century. Today, there are currently half a million bison roaming happily across North America.     .

Native peoples once lived their lives around the vast herds of bison that swirled around areas of the west and northwest, the central plains, and the southeastern U.S. Once pioneers started their westward trek, both the Native American tribes and the bison herds were seen as obstacles to progress. As the native peoples were systematically forced off their lands by either poachers or fake government treaties, the bison herds began to disappear; by the early part of last century, bison were on the way to extinction. Today, through the collective efforts of Indian tribes, wildlife associations, the national park system and others, bison have re-emerged as a protected species.

Source

[fatehbaz]

Indigenous knowledge and food sovereignty on the prairies. Native plants and history of farming in the the northern Great Plains. Maskēko-sākahikanihk (Muskeg Lake Cree Nation), Wipazoka Wakpa Oyate (Sioux Valley Dakota Nation), and Piikani First Nation recent approaches to sustainable food production. Bison grazing and grassland health on Piikani land.

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Indigenous peoples had lived and farmed the area centuries before European contact. [...]

Melissa Arcand is a soil scientist and associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan, and she grew up on a modern grain farm at Maskēko-sākahikanihk, or Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, north of Saskatoon. [...] Saskatchewan has more farmland than any other Canadian province. [...]

The yard is full of trees, including poplars, spruce and Manitoba maples — the fast-growing hardy species that form a protective wind-break around farm yards across the Prairies. Patricia shows me her vast garden on the south side of the yard. She has corn, squash, sunflowers, carrots, peas, flowers and shrubs of haskap and saskatoon berries. [...]

First Nation grain farmers are rare everywhere. In most cases, farmable land on the dozens of First Nation reserves across the plains of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta is rented out to non-Indigenous farmers who live nearby. That came up as a concern during a forum Arcand organized on Indigenous farming in Saskatchewan in 2018. In forum discussions, attendees resolved to take greater control over farming activities on their lands. [...]

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Eugene Ross has a slow, soothing voice. [...] Ross is an Elder at Wipazoka Wakpa Oyate, literally “Saskatoon river people”, the Dakota name for Sioux Valley Dakota Nation. It lies at the forks of the Assiniboine and Oak Rivers, 50 kilometres west of Brandon, Manitoba [...].

Entering the plains from the rugged forest landscape of the Canadian Shield feels like dropping through a hatch in the back of a wardrobe. They are completely different worlds. West of the uber-flat Red River Valley, just beyond the town of Austin, the landscape begins to undulate, like a sloppily made bed. From there, the Prairies fold and flatten, roll and settle, in all directions, seemingly forever. Canada has 154 million acres of farmland, according to Statistics Canada’s 2021 census, and 126 million of those are in the Prairie provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba. [...]

“Our Tylenol back in the day,” he says, pointing to Seneca root. From a ceiling hook, Ross takes down a string of white tubers, each about the size of a big toe: wild turnips. [...]

Production of another oilseed relative, Brassica napus, now the most common species on the Prairies, began in the 1940s. [...] In 1978, this improved crop got a new name: canola. Western Canadian farmers now grow canola on more than 20 million acres [...].  Canola is a cool-season crop that thrives in Western Canadian growing conditions. Ross knows a long list of native plants traditionally used for food and medicine that also thrive in the region. While highly unlikely that any will become the next canola, they could underpin a more diverse farming future. [...]

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You can see Piikani First Nation from the cliff’s edge at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in southern Alberta. [...] Today that great green sea, whipped by winds from a cascade of buffalo ghosts and bisected by the Old Man River, is Piikani territory. Noreen Plain Eagle is the land manager for Piikani First Nation and its 106,000 acres. [...]

Food sovereignty is a priority. Piikani’s reliance on outside food became acutely clear in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic when food companies, overwhelmed by supply chain issues, could not deliver their usual supply. Piikani nearly ran out of fresh food. It was a call to action for Plain Eagle. “We don’t want to be at the mercy of someone else to provide food to our community,” she says. “We want food sovereignty.” [...]

The next phase is to build a greenhouse at the school to produce a wider variety of vegetables. “We will use it as a hands-on teaching tool for students,” Plain Eagle says. “Terminology will be in the Blackfoot language.” [...] Plain Eagle also has plans to grow corn and potatoes for the community, and to think more strategically about the nation’s small bison herd. “Bison have always been part of our history,” she says, “and we’re learning how they can contribute to our grassland health.” Grasslands need a keystone grazer, like bison or cattle, to keep the grass in check and maintain grassland biodiversity. [...]

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Text by: Jay Whetter. “The true history of farming on the Prairies.” The Narwhal. 8 October 2022. [Bolded emphasis and italicized first paragraph added by me.]

[brevityisnotmywit]

Waiting For The Worms

Rabid Pneumonia: Also known as Tar Lung, or Wet Lung. A respiratory disease that eventually attacks the brain of its host, driving them to violence.

The pandemic has been ravaging Equestria for five months...Twilight is running out of time.

(Content Warnings: Zombie AU, Gore, Major Character Death, Disease.)

Five months have passed since the initial outbreak.

One hundred and fifty three long days of fear and mourning.

Two hundred twenty thousand three hundred twenty minutes of desperate attempts to combat this sickness.

It took a few weeks before Twilight had identified the reason they had so much trouble containing the disease. It was something so universal, so basic…something no one could live without.

Water. This damned plague spread through fresh water. True, a bite from an infected creature would transfer it, but its main method of transmission was something every living thing required. It wasn’t even like the princess had meant to discover this. No, she had gone to refill the coolant tanks for her lab when she noticed it.

Some poor filly, lost in the pain of the sickness, had dragged her broken body to the banks of the river. This puzzled Twilight. By this point, it was clear that the little pony was in the final stages of Rabid Pneumonia. She would have been suffering from hydrophobia, surely. And yet here she was, gagging on the black bile flooding her lungs. After many long moments, the pathetic creature hurls herself into the stream, startling Twilight.

Of course she was aware of how often they had to fish bodies out of the reservoir. She’d just presumed that it was due to the rainy season washing them downhill…she had a new panel to run.

After that, they tasked the pegasi and dragons with getting the word out. All water had to be boiled and filtered before drinking. It helped, but not nearly enough.

Month two is when they had to accept that magic wouldn’t fix this. The four princesses had called upon Discord to work towards a spell to address this. Between the five of them, there was nothing they couldn’t do…or so they thought.

Tar Lung could bounce back from anything they cast.

Discord was particularly stunned by this. He certainly wasn’t used to putting in effort to get what he wanted. By the time it was clear that they would have to resort to modern medicine, the draconequus seemed to fall into a depressive episode. He’d blipped away, presumably to the fortified home he had built for Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. The latter had moved in after she’d lost her husband and their daughter…

Shortly after that, Cadence had heard of the illness reaching the Crystal Kingdom. She rushed home, only to report that she would be unable to leave her people. A week later, Twilight received the news that her brother had contracted it.

She scowled, and shook her head. If her magic didn’t help, that was fine. Twilight never let herself lose sight of the practical side of her studies. She was particularly skilled in chemistry. So she called upon anyone experienced in medicine. Earth ponies, Pegasi, Unicorns, Kirin, Zebras, if you knew your way around a lab, you were invited.

Zecora had been a big help to their cause. She had convinced a few buffalo to join her, one of which was Little Strongheart’s daughter. The zebra made it clear that Twilight was to show the utmost respect to all who answered her summons. If the princess didn’t understand traditional methods, that didn’t mean they had no merit.

The implied accusation stung, but Twilight understood why Zecora made it. She’d definitely had moments of dismissing science she considered primitive.

As it would turn out, some of the biggest advances the team made began with the group helmed by the zebra. Their deep knowledge of the local ecosystem had resulted in significant breakthroughs. They hit a snag when the disease mutated again. The first documented jump was to the local population of timber wolves. They hadn’t anticipated it would be able to spread to plants…

Ink Rot meant a whole different threat.

Applejack wasted no time in assembling a crew to figure out why their crops had begun to die. Clearly it was related to the pandemic, but how? Tar Lung started as a respiratory disease, it shouldn’t impact this.

And yet, here they were.

Thankfully Ink Rot didn’t seem to be able to transmit to animals. At least, not like the virus could. It definitely could make you sick if you consumed too much contaminated matter. But it just resulted in something akin to food poisoning. The biggest danger was how it weakened the immune system.

Anyone recovering from Ink Toxicity was significantly more likely to contract Tar Lung. Even if they took every possible precaution. The sickness was getting stronger every passing moment.

Applejack was the one that suggested rain was no longer safe. After the outbreak, Cloudsdale had allowed the weather to self-regulate. They would do their best to prevent natural disasters, but their numbers had been falling to the virus at a significant rate.

As the storms rolled through, cases would skyrocket. Out of frustration, Applejack lamented that the petrichor smelled sour. Of course. Of course it was the rain. They couldn’t possibly boil every lake in the world.

The timber wolves had started to reach the final stages, so they would likely be drowning themselves like the previous carriers. Zecora had guessed that Ink Rot stemmed from their decaying branches.

Twilight issues a command to have Cloudsdale evacuated. She finds some comfort in the knowledge that Dash wasn’t around to see her home in this state…wherever she was. The princess tried not to dwell on her fallen friends. They both would just tell her to keep working on the cure.

A few days after the fall of the pegasi kingdom, Zecora caught it. The moment the acidic bile began to seep from her snout, she walked into a holding cell. She reassured Twilight from her glass cage that everything would make sense soon. The alicorn had everything she needed to save the world.

It was a rough few weeks, watching one of her most valuable teammates collapse under the strain of the sickness. Watching as it reached her brain, being forced to hear the zebra rip at her burning chest. The wet choking echoing off the walls…Twilight cried herself to sleep regularly.

She was failing her community. She was running out of time.

Which brings us to now. 

Five months.

One hundred and fifty three days.

Two hundred twenty thousand three hundred twenty minutes.

A brilliant flash blinds the princess. She scrubs at her eyes, squinting against the light. She’s surprised at who stands before her. The lord of chaos himself. Discord had returned. He looks exhausted. His thin mane had grown out, forming mats that swung heavily as he offered a half-hearted bow. His mismatched eyes were haunted…something was wrong.

“Discord?” Twilight asks softly, not wanting to startle him. The lab had too many delicate items to risk him bolting on her. “...What happened?”

It was clear from his expression that he anticipated the question. The draconequus knew she was a clever one. She saw right through him. As per usual. His voice is rough, as though he’d been screaming for hours.

“Observant as always, princess .” He spits out her title like the word is rotten on his tongue. “I take it you’re not getting anywhere?”

The jab digs into her spirit like an arrow. Twilight’s wings lift subtly, making her appear bigger. “We’ve made significant progress towards a cure. We’ll have our vaccine by the end of the year.” She snorts, flicking her tail. “Not that you care.”

The air shifts. Discord’s form distorts, chaos magic leaking out. The princess catches a glimpse of his true appearance. A twisting fractal, branching out into impossible angles and planes. He snarls, teeth rotating and multiplying endlessly. After a very tense moment, he reels his power in. The window into his reality closes.

The venom in his voice remains. “I resent that accusation.”

Twilight forces herself to stand strong. She was the only one that could fight him if needed. “State your business.” She snaps. “But I’m only going to warn you once. If you do anything to jeopardize our work, I will not hesitate to stop you. Keep that in mind.”

“Oh I’m so frightened, I just might shake myself apart.”

“ Discord .” She takes a step towards him.

“Ugh, you’re still no fun.” He rolls his eyes. Literally. Before Twilight can respond, Discord’s tone becomes serious again. “I’m here to help you.”

“You know none of our magic works against it.” The princess reminds him.

“ Yes . I am distinctly aware of how useless I appear to you.” He folds his arms, his tail flicking with irritation. “This whole thing has gone too far. You need someone that can get you anything in a matter of seconds. I am your obedient servant .”

He punctuates this with another, more dramatic bow.

Something’s happened, Twilight realizes. “Not that I’m going to turn you down but…why are you offering this now? You could have shown up at any moment, you know.”

“They caught it.” Discord states bluntly.

Twilight doesn’t need clarification on who ‘they’ are.

“I couldn’t protect them…I poured everything I had into keeping my-” He pauses, glancing away. “Keeping them safe from this. You know me, I could care less if this world implodes…or at least I did. I’m a selfish creature, it’s in my nature. I’m sure you understand.”

The princess nods, motioning for him to continue.

“...I can’t let them die, Twilight. I might not be able to snap this disease out of existence, but if I can do even the smallest thing to help expedite your work?” Discord meets her eyes, and she can see a hint of his old resolve. “I’ll make it happen. Just say the word…and please, we may be desperate, but let’s not forget our manners, hm?”

A harsh laugh bubbles up from Twilight’s chest. She can’t believe this is what it took to snap Discord from his isolation…actually, yes she can. This was perfectly in character for him.

“Alright. We can discuss details later, right now I need-” She was interrupted by a panicked Spike bursting into the room.

“Hey! Twilight, I’ve got a message from the Castle!” The dragon holds it out, allowing his friend to grab it with her magic.

She unfurls it, expecting a long update. What she does find, however, are three sentences that chill her to the bone.

‘The disease has breached the barrier. The Sisters are no longer with us. Please hurry…”

[chxotic-dxcklings]

Avana Kirios

Rarity: 4 Star Path: Preservation Type: Fire Species: Human Fraction: Intelligentsia Guild Character Introduction: A student of Doctor Veritas Ratio and sister to Chase. She has this chaotic, gremlin energy about herself, always smiling and laughing. Design: She has lightly tanned skin, brown hair that fades to blonde, and brown eyes. She usually wears jackets and hoodies. Her favorite outfit to wear in a black tank top with either a red zip up hoodie or her buffalo plaid button up shirt, both are usually tied around her waist. She will either wear black leggings with two red stripes going down the outer side of the pant leg. Her choice of shoes are either sneakers or a kind of combat style boot.

Voice Lines

INTERACTIVE

First Meeting: Ah, I am so sorry for bumping into you. I didn't see you there. My name's Avana, and I'm a student of the Intelligentsia Guild. Greeting: Oh, hey! It's you again. How's it going? I've got loads of shenanigans to tell you about! Parting: Welp, it's time to go. It's been fun, but I can't be late to class. See ya around! About Self: If you asked anyone, they'll all say I'm the clumsiest person they've met...and they're all right. It's not my fault I just like to hug the floor or that things jump in my way! Chat: University: I love the university so much. There's all kinds of people here. Some want to see you fail, others want to see you succeed, and some just sit back and enjoy the show! Hobbies: I love cooking and strangely enough, I love doing any kind of housework or cleaning. I don't know, it's just really relaxing for me. Surprising, huh? Annoyances: Ugh, I really despise when people make fun of my friends. I'll show them what happens when they mess with me! Something to Share: I always like to look on the positive side because there's already a lot of negativity in the world. That doesn't mean I'm happy all the time. I still get sad and upset just like anyone else. Knowledge: Life is hard. People will hurt you, and you can't control everything. The only thing you can control is how you react to those situations. It's okay to make mistakes and fail. Just get back up and try again! About Chase: We don't share the same last name because we have different fathers, but we're as close as any sibling! Besides, I'm clearly the better looking sibling. About Rivera: Aw, Rivera's the sweetest! It's a miracle she puts up with me and heals me when I accidentally break a bone from my clumsiness. About Jasper: Jasper has the braincell most of the time. And he's deserves it. Without him, I'd probably be in jail or dead. About Ratio: The Doctor is the best! Yeah, sure, he's a strict teacher but beneath all that he has a heart of gold! About Aventurine: Eh, I didn't like him at first. He seemed... unauthentic. But now, I'm glad he's around. He makes the Doctor happy and he's teaching me how to properly make shields! Eidolon Activation: Yeah! Another day, another challenge to face! Character Ascension: I'm making progress! Max Level Reached: Woohoo! I made it! Let's see how much further I can go! Trace Activation: The only limits you have are the ones you put on yourself. Added to Team With Ratio: "I won't let you down, Doctor!" Added to Team with Aventurine: "How do I shield other people again?"